Area teens needed to help fight litter on state highways

SPOKANE – The Department of Ecology’s (Ecology) Eastern Regional Office in
Spokane plans to hire about 115 teens throughout Eastern Washington this summer
to help clean up area roadsides, parks and recreation areas. Ecology Youth Corps
(EYC) members also will learn how to better care for the environment.

Youths, ages 14 to 17, who live in Eastern Washington counties can apply
through April 1, 2013, to work with one of Ecology’s EYC crews cleaning up
litter this summer. Crews will work 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m, Monday through Friday,
in one of two four-week sessions. Crew locations include Chewelah, Clarkston,
Colville, Ephrata, Moses Lake, Othello, Pasco, Pullman, Republic, Ritzville,
Spokane, Walla Walla and Wilbur.

Sessions this year run from June 24 through July 19, 2013, and again from
July 22 through Aug. 16. Participants will be paid $9.19 an hour.

Funding for the Ecology Youth Corps program comes from a dedicated account
called the Waste Reduction, Recycling and Model Litter Control Account.
The account is funded by a voter-approved tax on items related to the litter
problem.

Over the past several years, Ecology’s litter program, which includes the
Ecology Youth Corps, had lost about a third of its budget because of the
downturn in the economy. This year, former Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget
proposal left more money in the account to fund the program. It will be up to
the Legislature, however, to determine the program’s final budget.